As election day nears, Californians are receiving a surge of political texts and mailers, a result of the state selling voter rolls to authorized entities for political purposes.
The state’s power to sell the voter rolls has also been highlighted this week as the U.S. Department of Justice said it obtained the state’s voter rolls through commercial purposes.
Chris Micheli, an adjunct professor at McGeorge School of Law and longtime lobbyist, explained who is able to buy the voter rolls and why in an interview on California Politics 360.
“California does what all 50 states do. We don’t have a national voter roll. All the individual states administer their elections. So California, like other major states, actually sell them, but not for commercial use,” he said.
State law limits who can purchase voter rolls, Micheli said. He noted it’s mainly limited to political candidates and campaigns, as well as government agencies, journalists and academics.
The voter rolls include detailed information.
“That includes the individual voter name, contact information, their party preference, the original date of their registration, and the history of voting. In other words, did they cast a vote two years ago, four years ago, etc.,” Micheli said.
California law imposes restrictions on how this data can be used.
“The guardrails are they can only be used by certain people, again, like candidates and parties. But they can’t use it for any commercial use. And also they can only use it for that specified political purpose, but no other. They can’t turn around and sell it or use it commercially,” Micheli said.
When asked about the flood of political texts and mailers, Micheli confirmed, “That is correct. I mean, should there be some guardrails, some limits on that, given that the state already has some ability for people to opt out of companies selling their personal information.” He added, “That is something that they would have to write into state law. I think that there is some legitimate concern. I know a lot of people would love to turn to the Do Not Disturb for their text messages because we are getting so many of them. But today, those would have to be built into state law to put that sort of limitation on the use.”
Misuse of voter rolls carries penalties. “If you don’t use it for the authorized purpose, if you turn around and sell it for commercial use, that is actually a criminal penalty. It’s a misdemeanor for doing so,” Micheli said.
California’s approach to selling voter rolls is more restrictive than some states but less so than others.
“Some tighten the use and some allow very expansive use. I think California sort of falls in the middle because it limits those who can actually obtain the voter rolls. Generally, the political parties, there is actually an application process that is used in the Secretary of State’s office actually validates that information,” Micheli said.
He explained the process for obtaining voter rolls.
“There’s actually an online application process, in a two-page form, roughly. And of course, a nominal fee is paid, but that application is for the individual seeking those voter rolls to purchase them to fill out all the information so that the Secretary of State can, in fact, certify that these people are eligible pursuant to state law. And it also requires you to acknowledge that you can’t use it for commercial purposes or improper purposes,” Micheli said.
Micheli noted that while some individuals may want an opt-out provision for political texts and mailers, such changes would require legislative action.
This story was featured as part of our new California Tonight show. It airs Monday-Friday at 7:30 p.m. Watch on KCRA and KSBW.